Purpose of while(1); statement in C

Question

What purpose does while(1); serve ? I am aware while(1) (no semicolon) loops infinitely and is similar to a spinlock situation. However I do not

Answer 1

An usage on embedded software is to implement a software reset using the watchdog:

while (1);

or equivalent but safer as it makes the intent more clear:

do { /* nothing, let's the dog bite */ } while (1);

If the watchdog is enabled and is not acknowledged after x milliseconds we know it will reset the processor so use this to implement a software reset.